Juliette Nazroo (Solange)

My name is Juliette Nazroo, I’m 51 and my business is called Handmade by Solange, after my French middle name! I live in the Midlands in Northampton UK.

I have two wonderful adult children: Louis and Aimee , 27 and 25. I've been happily married for nearly 28 years to Raphael, a graphic designer.

Cake decorating really caught my eye after my parents went to night classes to make my wedding cake and I was blown away by the beauty and care and skill put into my cake. I started my little home based business a couple of years ago after tentatively baking for friends and family. My real reason for cake decorating is partly that I’m a very frustrated artist that needed a creative outlet. I’m also a stickler for perfection and am a weeeeeeeny bit OCD.

This year I hope to expand more into the wedding cake industry, as I recover from a nearly four month hiatus due to revamping my kitchen. (I currently take over the WHOLE kitchen whilst caking, much to the family’s dismay.)

I also have a ridiculously sweet tooth which i’m trying very hard to curb ,and I love travelling to foreign places (where I spend for ever checking out the cake and patisserie shops).

All of my skills I’ve learnt from online tutorial: in the beginning Shawna McGreevy and Pretty Witty Cakes; latterly watching SugarEd, Leslea Matsis etc. I know I’ve got it bad when I dream about cake design!

My fave recipe is a chocolate cake recipe that i’ve been using for ever and is sticky and unctuous. I like it paired with either chocolate ganache or salted caramel buttercream….yummmy

Makes ONE 8” tin

190 gms Butter or margarine
190 gms dark chocolate chopped
4 tsp coffee
140ml water
110 gms Self Raising flour
110 gms Plain flour
40 gms cocoa powder
1/4 tsp Bicarbonate soda
420 gms caster sugar (super fine sugar, not confectioner's sugar)
3 eggs
6 tsp oil (veg or sunflower)
95 ml sour cream

Preheat oven to 160C or 315f.  Line tin with parchment.  Gently melt the butter, chocolate, coffee and water in a pan on a low heat.  Sift dry ingredients into a bowl add in the sugar. 

In one more bowl mix eggs, oil and sour cream.  Pour the egg mix and the chocolate mix into the dry ingredients.  Mix well.  Pour into tin.  Cook in the centre of the oven.  When cooked remove from oven. Leave to cool in the tin. Baking time 1hr 30 mins cake is done when it springs back and toothpick comes out clean.

My fav english buttercream is made with equal quantities of unsalted butter and icing sugar (a Peggy Porschen recipe) and beaten for 5 mins on medium speed with Vanilla paste to taste…..even better a couple of large dollops of home made salted caramel thrown in. (fav recipe see Cupcake Jemma on Youtube) for salted caramel.

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